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A Letter of Gratitude from Archbishop Beltran September 20, 2005 My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Once again I wish to thank you, the Catholic people of our Archdiocese, for your very generous response to the urgent appeal to help the survivors of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing floods. Parishes have been forwarding their special collections of the past two weekends to our Business Office. As of today, we have received $602,000 for this disaster relief. These funds plus all other designated donations will be forwarded to Catholic Charities USA. Thus you will be helping immediately and long term. Thank you. In addition to the special collections, I have also released $40,000 from our own Catholic Charities disaster fund and $80,000 from the operating funds of our Archdiocese for this disaster relief. This $120,000 will be sent to the Archdiocese of New Orleans at the rate of $10,000 a month for the next year. Also, the children in our Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City have been asked to make personal sacrifices and to donate money to help aid the children affected by the disaster. Towards this effort, our children have given more than $15,000. Thanks to all of you for making this possible. Please continue to pray for our suffering brothers and sisters caught up in this tragedy. May Almighty God bless you for your generosity and concern. Gratefully yours in Christ, |